New champion recalls visit to St Andrews as he sets sights on Open

Sheona Small

At just 21, Jordan Spieth is the youngest player to win the Masters and US Open in the same year - and now he has his sights set on The Open for a hat-trick.

He has never played at St Andrews but he did visit the home of golf in 2011 - though it is doubtful the then 17-year-old could have imagined he might one day be making history.

In an interview with The Independent, Spiet recalled that visit to St Andrews.

“I remember walking around the R&A clubhouse and seeing paintings of royalty playing golf, and it was dated 14-whatever, 1460-something. I’m thinking, ‘our country was discovered in 1492 and they were playing golf here before anyone even knew that the Americas existed’. And that really amazed me and helped me realise exactly how special that place is.”